Sushi or Arborio Rice Creates Luxurious Texture

Pressure Cooking is a Deal Maker!

I’ve shared the secrets of pressure cooking for over a quarter century. So let’s use it to reshape rice pudding into a thick, soft-chewy pudding. What’s old is new again!

I’ve also adapted this pudding for both vegetarian and vegan menus.

Call me old-fashioned, but I love a custardy rice pudding. This blue collar dessert may have been borne from waste-not-want-not leftovers, but why not update it with a specialty rice from other countries. Sushi rice is a short grain sticky rice, as is the Italian variety: arborio. The texture becomes nubbly—such a joy in the chew!

The secret is in short-grain rice. Japanese sushi rice and Italian arborio rice varieties have a perfect plump and chewy texture that blooms this recipe.

I adapted this New York Times version to my tastes. I wanted it to be rich, but eggless. I wanted a little tartness so I exchanged yogurt for heavy cream. The results make for a thick and chewy pudding.

Rice pudding offers a perfect base for flavorings and dried fruit. Consider these adaptations:

• a handful of raisins, and you could soak them in some bourbon or rum before cooking
• other dried fruit: chopped cherries, dates, or even candy ginger
• drizzle over your finished pudding with some cream liqueur, like Bailey’s Irish Cream
• toast some nuts or pumpkin seeds to add a crunchy topping
• top with whipped cream, or Greek style yogurt

INGREDIENTS: For a vegan style use 3 cups plant milk and skip yogurt or cream

• rice – 3/4 cup, medium or short grain white rice: sushi or arborio
• milk – 3 cups, or plant based milk
• sugar – 3 TBS, or maple syrup [adjust to taste at step 5]
• corn starch – 1 TBS
• salt – 1/2 tsp
• citrus peel – a few large peels from orange, lime, or lemon
• raisins – 1/2 cup, or other dried fruit [see above]
• ______OFF HEAT____________________
  • Greek yogurt – 1/2 cup
  • cardamom – 1/2 tsp, [or cinnamon, or allspice, or nutmeg]
  • vanilla – 1 tsp

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a pressure cooker add the sugar and milk and bring to a bare simmer and stir to dissolve sugar
2. Add rice, cornstarch, salt, raisins [if using], and citrus peel
3. Bring to pressure, thencook for 6 minutes and take off heat for 9 more minutes; before opening
4. Fish out the citrus peel; taste for sweetness
5. Add yogurt, vanilla, and cardamom
6. Cool and refrigerate for a couple hours
7. Adjust for creaminess with additional milk

NOTE: Be Sure to Bring Ingredients to a Simmer at Step 1 Before Pressure Cooking; That Was a Lesson Well Learned

Recipe adapted by B. Hettig